iGrad Financial Literacy

The relationship between education and basic needs is clear. You can’t focus on your education if you can’t afford the basics, so for most of us, we need to make the most of our limited finances. Here are some easy tips and personalized resources for you to make sure you’ll have the money to meet your needs and be successful while you’re here at SJSU.

iGrad is a free, online financial literacy platform all Spartans can use to learn more about smart money choices. Whether you’re experienced with a personal budget, or new to managing your finances, iGrad meets you where you’re at and shows you where to go from there.

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• How much does it cost?

  • iGrad is absolutely FREE for you. SJSU pays for all costs associated with providing this service to students.

• What’s in it for me?

  • With the information and skills in iGrad, you’ll be able to grow your financial power and independence.

• Why register with iGrad?

  • Though you don’t have to register, as soon as you do you’ll have access to personalized, easy to understand, stress-free questionnaires that help iGrad find just the right content to start your financial learning, and  grow your skills and knowledge from there. There’s nowhere to go but forward!

• What are current iGrad users saying?

  • “iGrad is a most helpful tool. iGrad is there to guide you in any financial questions you may have. With very detailed information you can't go wrong with learning about the options you have to succeed in school and life stability.”

    “iGrad has exposed me to plenty of the finer points of personal finance that I have never even heard of, and I am not even done with all of the lessons yet! I am grateful for the service, as I am no longer nervous about dealing with financial affairs. In fact, I'm excited!”

    “iGrad teaches so many topics that I never learned in school. It's kind of crazy that these essential topics are never discussed, such as the terminology and how to effectively manage money with loans and other things. iGrad really gave me the boost I needed to start planning for my financial future, because I didn't really realize how important it is and that it's never too early to start.”

Your ultimate goal is your degree. Every item in your financial aid is packaged to help you get everything you need to reach that (the Cost of Attendance). We all want to minimize debt, but for many of us loans are a necessary tool to help us connect with important opportunities, like  a car, a house, or a decent chance at earning a degree. In fact, 37% of Spartans used the financial aid loans they were awarded to help make their education possible. Leave any of your financial aid on the table, and you could be making getting a degree harder on yourself than it needs to be. Note that most university emergency financial assistance programs require you to have used all your financial aid loans before considering you for crisis funding.

Here are some things to consider about the strategic value of loans that you can use in your favor:

• Loans vs. credit cards

  • if you’re using a credit card to pay for basic needs like food, housing, and utility bills, and not paying off the balance on your card each month, that credit card is costing you more money than a loan. The interest charged on  undergraduate financial aid loans this year will be 3.73%. The average interest rate for new credit card holders is 18.04% (wallethub.com, 8/2/2021) - that’s charging you almost FIVE TIMES as much as financial aid loans! And subsidized loans don’t even charge you interest as long as you’re enrolled half time or more!!  Exactly how much are you willing to pay in interest for that extra $3,000 that can help you make ends meet each month for the coming school year? See Northwestern University’s take on credit cards vs. student loans.

    And if you’re carrying a large balance on a credit card and have unused student loans, you should think about taking those loans out to pay off your credit card. You’ll spend less of your money paying the interest for the financial aid loan than you will for the credit card’s high rate interest.

• Most financial aid loans are MUCH better than the average personal loan
  • As opposed to personal loans, for most financial aid, you don’t  even need a credit score to apply - you only need to submit your FAFSA.. And as long as you stay enrolled at least half time you don’t have to start making payments. It’s understandable to be worried you won’t get a job right out of college - the terms of your payments may be adapted based on your financial need after you graduate. See what Experian, a global leader in credit reporting, has to say about personal vs. financial aid loans.
• Take only what you need
  • While 22% of Spartans use all the loans in their aid package, those who use only part of their loans use on average only 15% of the total.  Nobody wants unnecessary debt. If you’ve projected your costs vs. income for the year, and you only need some of the loans you’ve been offered, then you can take out only that much (like just enough to pay the security deposit for a new housing rental, or to help you make ends meet until you start your next job). This will keep your debt to a minimum. Start with your subsidized loan which is INTEREST FREE as long as you’re enrolled at least half time. If the unexpected comes up later in the school year, you can still take out all or a portion of your remaining loan balance at that time.See what iGrad has to say about Smart Borrowing.
• Working more so you can avoid loans isn’t always the smartest financial decision
  • Many students need to work while attending college to help make ends meet, but working too much, or too many jobs, can have a hidden cost. With finances, you should always consider your long game. If you work so much that you don’t have enough time to study and  pass all your classes, then you may need to take those classes again. That means paying the tuition and fees for those repeated classes again. And if it delays your graduation by a semester, or a year, then that’s 4 to 12 months of missed wages from the professional job you’re planning to get when you graduate. Add all that up, and maybe taking out some of your student loans will help you graduate on time and actually do more to increase your wealth in the long run.
• More tips for being loan savvy
  • 1. Your financial aid loan funds don’t come to you immediately. Plan ahead. Depending on the time of semester, it may take from a couple days to a few weeks until your loan funds post to your account.
    2. Get your loans refunded to you faster - if you set up direct deposit [pdf] with the Bursar’s Office, you’ll gain access to your funds without having to wait for a paper check to be printed and mailed to you.
    3. Loans pay off your remaining university balance first. If you need “extra” funds, make sure you figure that amount into how much of your loan(s) you borrow.
    4. Knowing how much you already owe can help you feel more confident about how much more to borrow. iGrad (https://sjsu.igrad.com/) can help you track all of your educational loans in one place.